Well, once again running behind. Going to have to retitle the blog one of these days… :)
But yeah. not feeling well over the weekend plus a busy pre-holiday schedule has once again left me short on time. So, let’s hit the jump and take a quick look at this week’s comments.
Just as a reminder, shows that I am watching are in bold, shows my wife and I are watching together are in bold italics.
Ancient Magus Bride, ep 7
I talked with my wife, who is reading the manga, and my supposition was correct. This is a very faithful adaptation, pretty much ticking off a chapter an episode. I refrained from asking her if comparing the episode count to the chapter count matched any arcs. (I’m trying to avoid spoiling myself.)
That being said, it was nice to see Chise starting to stand on her own two feet. Turns out that she’s pretty resourceful and competent on her own. (Though that was also shown when she made her own compassionate call on how to deal with Matthew and Mina in episode 5.) On the other hand, Elias put/left her in danger again for his own purposes.
And the consequences of that… We’ll have to wait and see.
Anime Gataris, ep 7
Aaand… we’re back to “gonna close the club”. Though the Student Council President confessed her inability to do so over the phone to some mysterious supervisor a couple of weeks back, she’s back in the game and trying again. Though Gataris has been pretty good to date, this episode was a serious stumble for me… Not only for (once again) ignoring it’s own continuity, but for the unfunny and lengthy “how to make an anime” segment.
Blend-S, ep 7
Blend-S went the opposite direction… in returning to it’s roots, it was much funnier this week than last. And it looks like the final character (the Idol) will finally appear. I dunno why, but I’ve been looking forward to her since the beginning.
Girls Last Tour, ep 7
Simply… wonderful. I remained awed that they can take something so simple and create something so awesome week after week.
Idolmaster: SideM, ep 7
The focus turns to the penultimate band – High x Joker and their attempts to make PV. Not the best episode of the season… but decent enough. (I’m not counting the Aoi twins/W, as unlike the others they haven’t been shown performing yet. Presumably their debut comes next.) And it looks like the season’s final arc will be what’s now a tradition from the iM@S franchise – an ensemble concert with the entire cast.
Inuyashiki, ep 6
Is it just me, or was this episode totally unnecessary? I mean, they’ve already shown Hiro shooting a dog – and then the little girl who came out to check on the dog. We already know he’s a monster. In the same vein, the “Ichirou as bumbling old man” schtick is starting to drag. As we move past mid-season, Inuyashiki is starting to get on my nerves a little.
Inuyashiki takes a pretty bleak view of humanity sometimes, and this is the bleakest yet.
Just Because
No episode this week, and rumors of a “special” episode next week. Sounds like the production problems have come home to roost.
Kino’s Journey
I dropped it week before last, my wife has also now dropped it.
Konohana Kitan, ep 7
Though watching Natsume and Ren’s interactions was very nice, especially seeing Ren figure out Natsume’s feelings… Overall not one of the better episodes. The supernatural elements this week seemed phoned in.
Land of the Lustrous, ep 7
In which it’s made obvious that Phos’ problems aren’t because of her lack of mineralogical toughness – they’re because she is a dunderhead. But we’d already figured that out. The episode ends with Phos once again in danger because she’s a dunderhead.
After half a season, is it too much to ask for a little character growth? As it is, Phos is practically a caricature of herself and that’s getting old.
The interesting part is how they’re flirting around with Kongo-sensei. It’s now pretty clear that he knows a hell of a lot more than he’s let on… And that he’s deliberately holding back something from the Gems.
Love Live Sunshine, ep 7
Well, it looks like WingKing nailed it way back in the first week of the season – the school is definitely going to close. Aquor’s new goal is to engrave the school’s name on the Monument Of Swordsmen in the Love Live Idol Festival’s history books. Cold comfort, but what else are they going to do at this point?
It’s pretty much assured that their plot armor will result in a win at Love Live… But I hope they stick to their guns and don’t pull a last minute reversal of the decision to close the school.
March Comes in like a Lion, ep 6
Man… once again an absolute solid episode. Particularly cool was Takahasi (the baseball playing senpai that Hinata has a crush on) stepping up to the plate to support her and stand against the bullies. If was heartbreaking to watch her as she realized futility of her actions (the damage has been done) and the price of making a stand. But that doesn’t deter her from continuing to stand her ground.
Recovery of an MMO Junkie, ep 7
Probably the finest ep to date… And it looks like Yuta is finally ready to confront Moriko – but there’s a twist. They’ve known each, and had unconfessed feelings for each other, in the past. Three eps left to go, and they’re not content to just coast into a landing. They’re turning it up to 11.
Wake Up Girls: New Chapter
No episode this week, and I’ve been unable to find out why.
Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru: Hidamari
A special episode, narrated by Washio/Togo that recaps the events of the first series. A nice touch to ground us in what has come before – and to prepare us for what comes next.
A PV was also released for the upcoming Hero Chapter, and it looks lovely.
And there you have it, my thoughts this week! I hope my American readers have a good Thanksgiving, and I’ll see y’all on Friday with the Yamato 2199 group watch post.
Apprentice Mages Lounge. 
I think it’s pretty obvious why Wake Up, Girls didn’t have an episode, given the ridiculously obvious lack of animation the past two episodes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sorry for the late reply, the holiday intervened.
That’s certainly possible, but WUG has never been known for it’s animation quality in the first place.
LikeLike
@Ancient Magus’ Bride: Gee, what do you think would make a good familiar for Chise? (Pacing-wise, I wish they’d brought that up earlier – bringing it up the episode they meet a huge, black dog is… suspicious.)
I found myself actually missing Just Because this week. I’m a little surprised; I didn’t think I was attached enough to the to miss it.
Also, I’m finally dropping Shobitch. There are better episodes; there are worse episodes – there are no good episodes. There are good moments, but they’re too few. And when it’s bad, it’s pretty awful. I still find myself unwilling to let go, but it’s for my own sanity. I’m done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
@Magus – Yeah, and this ep introduces some discontinuities with the OVA.
Just Because… Yeah. It hit me harder than expected too, even though I know I was attached.
And I’m stealing that comment on Shobitch for future use… It describes so many shows I’ve dropped mid-season. It would have been very apt for Two Car.
LikeLike
Not much to say about Yuki Yuna’s recap, other than that it did its job, and I hope it doesn’t affect the number of episodes we get for the sequel arc (which it doesn’t look like it should, fortunately).
On LL Sunshine: well, well, that was unexpected but welcome. I mean, yeah, I said I thought the story should go that way, but after they teased us in episode 1 and then backed off, I was bracing for yet another miracle save. Although I have to say, it’s interesting that the criticism I’ve heard about this episode’s setup has mostly focused on the silliness of expecting kids to work on their high school applications at 3 in the morning, which I wasn’t even thinking about. Meanwhile, I haven’t seen anyone commenting on how the adults come off as kinda dickishly pedantic here. When the school only seems to have about 50 students to begin with, what practical difference does 98 vs 100 applicants make? Either way, you’re looking at a 2-3x increase in enrolment if enough of them choose to attend, but I guess everyone on the board are a bunch of Scrooges.
That issue aside, I thought the episode did a good job of delivering the impact and the feels that it needed to, along with showing a way forward from here. If the rest of the season can successfully build on the foundation that this episode laid, then it should give us a strong finish (episode 8 was a good start in that direction, but I’ll save my thoughts on that for next time).
I did manage to mostly get caught up on GLT, up through episode 6 anyway (planning to hit 7 and 8 later tonight). I’m with you, it does somehow keep getting better. One thing about having to catch back up, I’ve discovered that it’s one of those shows where I can only watch 1 or 2 episodes at a time before I have to stop, probably because there’s so much I want to absorb with the atmosphere and setting and everything, but I still always look forward to coming back for more later. I’m glad I didn’t give up on it once I fell behind.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t know if the board is being dickish or just saying “the decision is made, go the censored away”. Or maybe they were just setting up the expectation of a last minute miracle save. They certainly shipped that hard enough, mostly to make the ultimate defeat even more bitter I suspect. Hard to distinguish between intention/characterization and directorial meddling sometimes.
Ah, so you’re not caught up on GLT, so technically you owe me a slice of turkey. :)
LikeLike